How landscape structure affects the risk of hantavirus transmission in the Cerrado...
| Grant number: | 13/12515-5 |
| Support type: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |
| Effective date (Start): | October 01, 2013 |
| Effective date (End): | December 31, 2016 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Ecology |
| Principal Investigator: | Jean Paul Walter Metzger |
| Grantee: | Paula Ribeiro Prist |
| Home Institution: | Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 14/18878-5 - How landscape structure affects the risk of hantavirus transmission in the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest of São Paulo State, Brazil, BE.EP.DR |
Abstract Hantavirus infection takes about 50% of those infected to death, and has as its main reservoir generalists species of rodents, which increase in abundance in fragmented and degraded landscapes, increasing the risk of transmission of the disease. Our goal is to evaluate which ecological factors allow to identify the areas of greatest risk for Hantavirus transmission to the State of São Paulo. For this, we will relate the spatial distribution of hantaviruses by the number of official cases of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome confirmed by the Ministry of Health, with potential explanatory parameters, such as the potential distribution of reservoir species, obtained by ecological niche modeling, the amount of native vegetation (forest or cerrado), the number of edges between native vegetation and disturbed areas, and other potential environmental aspects relevant to the reservoir species. To validate the models generated on this large scale, we will collect data on the richness and diversity of small mammals (and blood samples for analysis of serum prevalence) in landscapes with different prevalence of hantavirus infection, according to results of the model. Through the existing literature, one expects to find in areas with the lowest percentage of native vegetation cover and higher amount of edges a lower diversity of small mammals and a higher density of rodent reservoirs of hantavirus, as well as a higher prevalence of this virus in populations. The findings of this study should contribute to a greater understanding of the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation of native habitats and changes in the composition of small rodents in the transmission of hantavirus, and to a lower cost and greater effectiveness of surveillance systems for reservoir species. (AU) | |